Chinese Martial Arts

Chinese martial arts, colloquially referred to as kung fu or Gung fu (Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: gōngfu), and wushu (simplified Chinese: 武术; traditional Chinese: 武術; pinyin: wǔshù), are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" (家, jiā), "sects" (派, pài) or "schools" (門, mén) of martial arts. Examples of such traits include physical exercises involving animal mimicry, or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called internal (内家拳, nèijiāquán), while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called external (外家拳, wàijiāquán). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳, běiquán) and southern (南拳, nánquán), is another popular classification method.

Traditional styles

Bafaquan (八法拳) - Eight methods

Baguazhang (八卦掌; Bagua Zhang) - Eight trigrams palm

Bājíquán (八極拳) - Eight extreme fists

Bak Mei (白眉拳) - White Eyebrow

Chāquán (查拳) - Cha Fist

Changquan (長拳) - Long Fist

Chuōjiǎo (戳腳) - Poking Feet

Choy gar (蔡家拳) - Choi Family style

Choi Li Fut (蔡李佛; Càilǐfó)

Ditangquan (地躺拳) - Ground-Prone Fist, Ground Tumbling Boxing

Duan Quan (短拳) - Short Range Boxing

Emeiquan (峨嵋拳) - Emei Fist

Fanzi (翻子拳) - Overturning Fist, Tumbling Boxing

Five Ancestors (五祖拳) - Wuzuquan or Ngo Cho Kun

Five Animals (五形)

Fujian White Crane (福建白鶴拳) - also known as Bai He Quan (白鶴拳)

Fu Jow Pai (虎爪派) - Tiger Claw System

Fut Gar (佛家)- Buddhist Palm

Gouquan (狗拳) - Dog Fist

Hakka Kuen (客家拳) - Hakka Boxing

Hap Ga (俠家)

Houquan (猴拳) - Monkey Fist

Drunken Monkey (醉猴)

Hei hu quan (黑虎拳) - Black Tiger Fist

Huaquan (華拳) - China Fist

Hung Fut (洪佛) - Hung and Buddha style kung fu

Hung Ga (洪家拳; also known as Hung Kuen)

Jing Wu Men (精武門) - Jing Wu, a famous school founded in Shanghai that teaches several different styles.